The Beast Within
by Dramione-lovers-unite
Summary: A story i wrote for a Creative Writing project. Really really short. Let me know what you think. Katie Lehmann was excited to be 17, one year before she is 18. Of course she recieves a special gift from her dad which includes family history. How will Katie accept her fate? Hocus Pocus crap or the truth? To survive she has to do something she doesn't want to do.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The mob of townspeople were slowly moving through the street with their pitchforks and their torches. They were heading towards the house at the end of the street. That house belonged to Martha Blackburne and her daughter Bella. Martha was the town witch, and everyone knew it. Since it was the time of the Salem Witch Trials, all of the witches were being burned at the stake. Since she was the town witch, and she had a daughter, they were next.

As the crowd was advancing down the street, they were yelling things such as "Burn the Witch" and "Tie her to the stake!" Martha heard them coming, and started to make preparations. She went to her daughter's room and got her, whispering to her, "Come with me, Bella. You need too hide."

So she went to the living room, lifted up the rug, and revealed a trap door in the floor. She opened it up and slowly descended the ladder. She then told Bella "Come down here... Quickly!" So Bella went down after her mother. "Sit here on the floor, and don't make a sound" said Martha.

So she went back up the ladder, shut the trap door, and covered it up with the rug again. She ran upstairs, and sat in a chair, waiting for the mob to get there. The townspeople entered the house, and started searching for Bella and Martha. They were tearing apart the whole downstairs looking for them, and they happened to move the rug, and found the trap door. "Hey! We found something," they yelled.

They opened the trap door, and went down to see what they could find, and of course, there was Bella. As soon as she saw that it wasn't her mother, she started to scream at the top of her lungs "MOMMY!" The townspeople took her outside, and tied her up to a stake. They then put kindling, and sticks, and all sorts of wood underneath her.

They yelled, "Martha, if you don't come out of the house, we are going to burn your daughter alive!" Martha heard them, but didn't want to die, so she snuck out the back window, jumped down, and ran into the woods behind her house. She sat in silence, tears streaming down her face, in the woods, watching.

The townspeople kept yelling for her to come out of the house, but when she did not, and further searching for her did not come up with any idea to where she was, they finally said "Fine! Then she dies!" Martha sat in deafening silence listening to the screams of her daughter as she was burned at the stake alive. As she watched her, she vowed that she would find a replacement for her soul. So she set out in the woods looking for a suitable little girl to take her dear Bella's place.

**1 Year Later...**

After careful searching and planning, she finally came upon a little girl whose name was Ema. She belonged to the Johnson family. She went and started to talk to the little girl, and found she was just like Bella was. So Martha went up to the little girl's father, and started to talk to him.

"Hi. My name is Martha Blackburne. I was just talking to your little one over there, and she is beautiful," she said.

"My name is Kyle Johnson. Thank you for the compliments of my daughter. I know she would enjoy hearing them."

"Oh I already told her" said Martha. "I just wanted to meet you. Now, I do have some bad news for you. In three days time, I am going come back to your house, and take your little girl away from you. Goodbye."

She made a little swirling motion, and just like that, she was gone, it was as if she wasn't even standing there just 10 seconds ago.

Kyle just stood there dumbfounded. He did not know what to say, or what to do. When he thought of what the woman said, it made him shudder. He saw nothing but evil blackness in her eyes when she said that. So he did the only thing he could think of. He went to the townspeople and asked what to do. They made a plan to catch her when she came to get Ema. So things went into motion, setting up the plan.

Three days came and went with no sign of Martha. So the townspeople sat in wait for her. Late into the night, they heard a strange noise. It was like a muffled scream. They all rushed into the house, and went into the Ema's room. When they went into the room, they found Ema in the arms of Martha, with a rag in her mouth. The townspeople all rushed in and grabbed Martha. Kyle looked at her, and saw hatred staring back at him from the deep, black depths of her eyes.

Everyone rushed out of the house, still holding Martha. She was making no attempt to flee. It was as if she WANTED to let this happen. So they set up a stake and tied Martha to it. They stuck her in the ground, and lit the stake on fire. She wanted to die.

She looked at Kyle and said, in a calm voice, "From this moment forward, any daughter born to you will be cursed. There will be a little beauty mark on the left-hand side of their face, right above their top lip. By the age of 17, they will need to kill and eat humans to survive. If they cannot find a cure for the curse before the next eclipse, every single one of your descendants will die." Then she laughed shrilly, and stared him right in the eyes as she burned to death.

This was the start of the curse.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

BEEP BEEP BEEP! God that annoying sound! Where is it coming from? Katie Lehmann looks around her spacious room covered in blue and green. Her bed was a queen size covered in pillows that put heaven to shame. The zebra print gives it a modern and retro touch that she adores. Her swinging chair that hangs from her ceiling that her father Joe put up for her as a sixteenth birthday gift sits in the left corner in between her desk pilled high with papers and her walk-in closet filled with clothes. Her hand fumbles against her nightstand in search for the repetitive screeching. Finally it smacks down on her alarm. Groaning she sits up.

"Katie! Can you come down already? You are going to be late for school!" Her mother Emily bellows from beneath the stairs. She makes no attempt to move just yet. Suddenly a thought jolts through her mind faster than she can comprehend. It is September thirtieth! My seventeenth birthday is tomorrow! She shoots up like a piece of toast. Mmmm toast. Her stomach rumbles with hunger. She rushes to her bathroom to brush her teeth to pearls and dresses in her usual neon blue skinny jeans, her band t-shirt and baby blue Converse. She skips down the spiral wooden stairs to be greeted with a kiss on the cheek from her mother and a large grin from her dad.

"Well my dearest, your father has an early present for you." Her mother smiles at her and continues cooking breakfast. Her dad grins more behind his newspaper and sips his black coffee.

"It's on the living room table if you want it now." Her dad says in a nonchalant tone. Yeah _right, Dad. You are such a bad actor, you want me to open it._ She thinks to herself. She walks to the living room to come face to face with a large box on the glass table. Carefully making her way towards the gift, she eyes it, wondering what it is. _It doesn't have holes so it is not a pet. It can't be car keys. Dad isn't to stupid as to put small keys in a huge box. I already have a computer and flat screen TV. What is it..?_

__She reaches out slowly to touch the lid. Her hand wants to rip it to shreds to get to its contents. Her breathing wavers and she lifts the lid. _A book? A large dusty old book? Thanks for nothing, Dad. _She carries the book into the kitchen where her parents are smiling. Her mother's eyes land on the book and widen with something that isn't happiness. It looks like…fear. Her dad's expression hasn't changed much but his smile has softened.

"Well Katie Kat? What do you think?" her father asks in question with a glimpse of hope in his eyes.

"Uh…it's...well...its," she stutters. Not wanting to disappoint her dad she says, "It's great, I love it. Thanks, Daddy." Her dad smiles gently and stands up. He kisses the top of her head and then kisses her mom softly.

"I have to go. I will see my two perfect girls later." He walks out and her mother eyes the book once more, looks at Katie and then darts out the kitchen to follow her father. Katie slowly follows and sees her dad still smiling but it falters when her mom rushes up to smack him in the arm. Her mom had never once hit her dad that she knew of. Her dad was shocked and asked her why she did that. Katie walks to the door and cracks it to hear the conversation.

"How could you? She isn't even seventeen yet! I do not want that book in my house!" her mom whispers angrily.

"Well Emily, if you remember I pay the bills and this is OUR house. Besides she needs to understand what will happen. It has happened ever since 1692. It will happen to her! Look at her face. She is the spiting image of Ema!"

"Don't make it seem like it is my fault I don't work. You told me **YEARS **ago that I could be a stay-at-home mom and that is what I am doing! I don't want to lose my daughter to this nonsense." Her mom replies back sharply.

Her dad climbs in his shiny blue Dodge Viper and drove off leaving her mother standing in the driveway. How often do her parents fight? She has rarely seen them argue let alone a fight that leaves one standing alone. Her mother slowly walks into the house. She glances at Katie and walks back to the kitchen to clean up. Katie stands there dumbfounded and walks to find her mom. Emily is already scrubbing the counters even though they are always spotless.

"Are you going to drive me to school?" Katie asks hesitantly.

"Of course!" her mother drops the sponge and grabs her keys and dashes out to the blue Volvo. Katie grabs her book bag, stares at the book from her dad one last time and walks to the car. _How can one book cause so much trouble in twenty minutes?_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Katie is relaxing after school in her room with her friends Torri, Bruce, Jackie and John. Jackie and John have been together for what seems to be forever. Jackie with her perfect blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes and John with his dirty blonde waves and tall build with soft brown eyes. Torri is average weight and has short black hair that she dyes often. She wears Tripp clothing everyday no matter the weather. Those include large black pants with chains and long sleeve black V-necks in summer. Bruce is the stereotypical skater dude. With his brown shoulder length hair covered by his common beanie and his long pants and a plain t-shirt. No one knows much about him. We know Jackie does cheerleading, and John plays soccer, Torri plays electric guitar. But nothing about Bruce. Jackie, John and Katie think Torri and Bruce secretly like each other but won't admit it. Any time it is brought up Bruce gags and Torri heaves. Katie and her friends are all so different but get along perfectly.

"Can you believe we still have eight months of school left and then it is summer time?" Torri exclaims. John and Jackie and sitting in a corner kissing each other ignoring the others and Bruce shrugs indifferently.

"I know. I can't wait! And tomorrow I will be seventeen finally. I am one step closer to eighteen and graduating." Torri nods fast and Bruce sits by his skateboard spinning the wheels. Katie's stomach grumbles loudly and Bruce chuckles. Torri glares.

"Go get some snacks, you garbage can." Torri giggles. Katie walks out and downstairs to raid the fridge. _Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers, and more leftovers. Jeez mom got anything else? _The pantry is filled with canned goods and boxes of god knows what. She opens the freezer and sees nothing appealing. Her stomach lurches at the look of all the food and she darts to the bathroom. After she walks out Torri is waiting outside the door.

"Bruce, John and Jackie left and you were taking forever until I realized you were in here puking your guts out. You okay?" She nods slowly not wanting to shake her head too much.

"What happened?" Torri asks. Katie shrugs

"I don't even know. One minute I am looking for food the next I am running to the bathroom to throw up. I couldn't have eaten anything bad. You and I have eaten the same things all day." Torri nods but with a skeptical look on her face and walks to get a drink. She offers her a bottle of water. Katie happily accepts. _Anything to get the acid taste out of my mouth. _Katie and Torri are resting in her room. Her stomach rumbles again, she check the clock. It says two in the morning and she looks over at her friend sleeping soundly. At a tortoise pace, she climbs out of bed to the kitchen. The freezer and fridge light flicker on. She noticed a large steak in the freezer thawing. Her hand darts forward and rips open the package. She brought the raw meat to her mouth and devours it a light speed pace. She begins to lick her lips and her hands like an animal that had just feasted on its prey. She looks down at the empty Styrofoam package that once contained a raw steak, now lie empty and discarded like a broken toy. Katie gasps sharply. _What is wrong with me?_

Later that morning she makes her way to the living room looking for the book her dad gave her. It is still lying on the table where she left it the morning before. She hesitantly reaches out to grab it when her mother yells for her.

"Katie! Have you seen my steak that was in the fridge? I swear I put it in here yesterday for tonight but it isn't here anymore." her mother explains.

"No mom. I haven't. Sorry." Katie replies. She grabs the book and darts upstairs. With a quick hand, she swipes everything off from her desk in one motion and the book slams on top. _There is no title or anything. It's just blank. What kind of book did you get me dad? _She moves her hand to the edge and flips it open to the first few blank pages and then sees the first page.

_"I don't know who is reading this other than you are my descendent. My name is Kyle Johnson and I have brought the forces of hell onto this family. A woman by the name of Martha Blackburne put a curse on my family. In particular my daughter Ema." _That name sounds familiar. I remember dad yelling something about me looking like a girl named Ema at mom yesterday. _"Martha was a witch who was found and suppose to be burned but instead they got her seventeen year old daughter, Bella. Later Martha set out to find a girl who looked like her own in hopes of gaining her daughter back from the dead. She tried to take my Ema."_

Katie slams the book shut. This is too weird. She gets up to walk away but instead gets a large box, shoves the book inside and slides it under her bed.

A few months pass and Katie goes through some more changes. She loses her appetite unless she sees raw meat, or scary enough a person. Once or twice she has killed a helpless squirrel. Her eyes have gone from her father's hazel to pitch black half of the time, and her skin has gotten paler. She is beginning to look like a zombie and that's exactly what her friends are calling her.

"Mom, Dad. Can we talk?" Katie asks hiding behind her sunglasses and sweatshirt.

"Sure Katie Kat. What's up?" her dad asks.

"Well I have been going through some changes recently and I can't explain them..."

"Say no more! That is your mother's area of expertise." her dad replies.

"Dad...it isn't womanly problems...I have had those for awhile..." Katie replies shyly.

"Then what is it, dear?" her mother's voice cuts in. Katie shuffles her feet and stares at the ground.

"What I mean is that I have gotten paler and I am never hungry unless it is raw meat or breathing. And my eyes have changed color."

"Well my eyes change color and you probably have your mother's appetite. It is always just meats with her." her dad replies chuckling.

"But Dad! Look at me!" Katie removes her jacket and sunglasses. Her parents take in her appearance and gasp.

"Oh my gosh, Joe! What has happened to our baby?" her mother stutters out and begins to sob. Her father stands up slowly and moves towards her. Katie looks down ashamed of scaring her mother to the point of tears. Her dad picks up her chin and inspects her face. Turning it from side to side he then asked where the book is that he gave her. She told him it was in a box under her bed as it has been for months now. He rushes upstairs and you hear things falling and lots of thumping until he comes back with the book in his hands.

"Did you read it?" he asks slowly. Katie looks away at her mother who is still crying into her hands. Joe repeats the question and Katie shakes her head no.

"I read the first page and then it just sounded stupid so I closed it." her dad beings rifling through pages skimming the text and stops in what seems to be the middle of the book. He turns it around towards her and points to a paragraph.

"Read it. Out loud." her father states in a demanding tone.

_"Ema began changing a few months after she turned seventeen. She wouldn't eat anything unless it was raw meat. She got a paler skin tone and her face began to sink in. She looked as if she had no strength but was stronger than ten large men. Her eyes grew into a menacing black. She started to look like the living dead..." _Katie looks up at her dad slowly and her bottom lip trembles.

"What is wrong with me?" she asks her parents. Emily rushes over and holds her daughter close.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As her parents hold her close, her father makes her read the rest of the book. She begins to learn that since Kyle refused to give Ema up to Martha, she put a curse on any female in the family born on her dad's side. Each was born with a beauty mark on the left-hand side above their top lip. Now Katie looks at herself in the mirror and stares. Stares at her face. Wondering why it had to be her. Why it couldn't have been some other girl or family. I have to tell the others. She pulls out her cell phone and sends a quick S.O.S text message to her friends.

After they all arrived, Katie sat them down in her room for a "quick chat." Torri looks worried from her position on the bed, Bruce looks concerned but indifferent, and once again John and Jackie are all wrapped up in each other. Why they are friends with those two she will never understand. Katie sighs deeply and Bruce asks her what is going on.

"So I just recently came to discover some family history. On my dad's side...we have a curse. I know how stupid it sounds but it is true. The reason I look so awful all the time is because of this curse. It makes me hungry...for flesh. I get pale and black eyes. I am basically a monster." Katie explains.

"So...you are some mythical creature that...kills? Asked Torri confused and in disbelief.

"I don't expect you to believe me, I just...I don't know...I guess I hope that you guys will help me figure out how to stop it."

"Um, Katie, we love you and all but John and I don't really want to get ourselves into a bunch of hocus pocus junk. So no offense but count us out." Jackie says as she and John stand up and walk out. Katie nods her head in understanding and looks back at Torri and Bruce.

"Well I don't care how crazy it sounds. I will be here always. So yes I will help you." Torri says with a smile. Bruce looks back and forth with wavering eyes. An undecided movement Katie realizes. Until his gaze stops on Katie, he looks into her eyes and bolts out of her room.

"I guess we can count Bruce out." Katie says. Torri and Katie stay up all night searching the book for answers. For anything really. The weather is picking up and getting colder. Winter is rolling in. Suddenly Torri busts out a scream.

"You have to find a cure in six months of your change! When did this start?"

"My seventeenth birthday. I remember waking up at two in the morning and eating a raw steak out of the fridge." Katie replies.

"That was over three months ago! You have less than three months left to find a cure! What are we gonna do?" Torri screeches.

"You don't think I realize that? And there is no we. It is just me. Only I can figure this. I have to break the curse. Unless you can magically take my place and you plan on dying soon." Katie says. Torri looks down ashamed. Katie hugs her friend close and tries to tell her it will be alright. Even though she really has no idea if it will be alright. But for now, things look as if everything is over.

Weeks pass by and Katie's urges get stronger. She has resorted to eating animals and eating raw meat. She tried to joke with her mother and say that they should invest in meat but her mom didn't laugh. Actually her mom cried...hard...like she has been since her birthday.

One day, Katie was sitting at her desk flipping through the book again. Hoping to find something that could even hint to a cure. _Eclipse this and eclipse that, kill humans, eat the innocent, die if no cure is found. yada yada yada. "__They've got me on the outside lookin' in, but I can't see at all. With the weight of the world on my shoulders, hey just wanna see me fall. They've got me on the outside lookin' in, but I can't see at all. With the weight of the world on my shoulders, they just wanna see me fall." _Katie heard her ring tone coming from inside her purse. The screen said Torri. _Now why is Torri calling me so late?_

"Hello?" Katie asked.

"I have the cure! All you have to do it kill Martha's descendent..."

"What are you talking about? Martha had a daughter who was burned alive. Just a daughter. There is no way she has any decedents now."

"But she does. She had a secret son that she kept hidden away. Her son had kids. Martha's descendent: Bruce." Torri said completely unsurprised.

"Bruce...? But...But...it can't be..."

"But he is! All you have to do is kill Bruce the way you were cursed to live by the 200th eclipse. The 200th eclipse is in a few weeks."

"But this is Bruce we are talking about. A guy we have known forever."

"And obviously know nothing about. That explains why I never liked him." Torri said.

"And it explains why he looked at me the way he did before he bolted out of my room the day I asked you guys for help." Katie replied.

_This is it. The only way I can survive and end this curse is to kill someone I have known forever...by eating him. How humane._

Katie walks towards the table where the book lays. _I really hope this tells me for sure Bruce her descendant. _The pages filter between her fingers and she skims the text for anything that explains Martha's family.She picks up the book to move it to her lap and an old worn envelope falls to the ground. Katie places the book on the right side of the bed and stretches for the envelope. The thick piece of parchment has tears and splits. She turns it over carefully. The back has Rosso Corsa red wax with the stamp K.J. Kyle Johnson? Where did this envelope come from anyway? Slowly, she opens the unsealed letter and begins to read. Her eyes flash open at the mention of a son. Bourne Blackburne. He was not considered a witch because he was male. _Sexist jerks._ He went to live a healthy life until he died at the age of 40. This was longer than expected at that time. He had three children. Two boys named Aden and Blake and a daughter named Eloise.

Aden and Eloise were killed in a house fire along with his wife. He watched the last bit of his house burn to the ground getting to the scene too late. He rushed around to find his family hoping they got out. Only to find Blake sobbing and trying hard to explain to Bourne that Aden and Eloise got locked in and his wife Lillian went in to save them but perished herself.

There was a large fold out of the Blackburne family tree inside as well. It was dated back from the time of Bourne to now. _I guess each family member added in the generations of his family. _Katie looked upon the tree line and studied all their faces. Each one some time after Bourne himself began to have physical features like Bruce. Yet Bruce wasn't on the tree but his parents were.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spring is hitting hard. Not like winter was but not good either. The eclipse is tomorrow night. _How can I kill Bruce? How can I even get him to see me and kill him? _Torri told Katie the other night that she should call Bruce, meet him somewhere late and finish him. _How can she talk about him like his life doesn't matter? I guess I have to._

"Hello?"

"Hey Bruce, its Katie I have to talk to you about something important. Will you meet me at the mall tomorrow night? I know meeting me late is weird but I can't risk someone finding out.

"Uh...I don't know..." he says.

"Please?"

"Oh, what the hell. Sure. Does ten work?"

"Perfect." Katie replies and hangs up. _Did I really just make a date to meet with Bruce to kill him without his knowledge? I think I did. _

The Next Night...

Katie is walking down the sidewalk, the mall coming into view. The streetlight flickers. _Time to get a new bulb. _She continues her walk and slides into the door. She sees Bruce waiting for her in his usual attire. She walks up to him casually. _I hope he doesn't think something is wrong..._

"So why are we meeting so late?" he asks.

"I will tell you in a bit. See a movie with me?"

"Um, sure..?" he replies skeptical.

She and Bruce go see a movie. The whole time the movie played she was trying to figure out way to kill him. Suddenly she decided that they were far back in an empty theater for anyone to notice and she could kiss him first and then kill him in the process. Katie leaned forward and brought him close to kiss him. He happily obliged and she made a trail down to his neck.

"I'm sorry." she whispers.

"Wha..!" and she rips into his jugular vein. Little by little she can feel him losing consciousness. She can feel the repulsiveness from killing someone. The blood pours into her mouth and she continues to swallow. Every drop that is left. She drains him. Finally she removes her mouth and looks at Bruce with tears in her eyes. Someone she knew for so long...Now she feels different. Lighter almost.

She leaves the theater with a heavy heart. The guilt pulling her down. When she walks in her house she feels hungry so she goes to grab some meat from the freezer but is repulsed. Curious, she goes to the pantry and finds chocolate covered pretzels, her favorite. She opens the bag and the sweet and salty aroma fills her senses and she begins to eat. Before she knows it she has eaten a full box of Poptarts, a box of hot pockets, chocolate covered pretzels, and leftover chicken and rice. Emily wakes up the next morning to find her normally spotless kitchen covered in food and sees Katie passed out at the island with a Poptart hanging from her mouth. She realizes the 200th eclipse was last night, it is now March 1st and her daughter was here asleep with food in her mouth. Food that wasn't raw meat! Completely aware that she woke Katie she rushed over and squeezed her tight.

"Oh! My baby! I love you so much! You are safe now!" her mother cried.

"Yeah...I love you too, mom." Katie replies groggily.

Finally her family can rest in peace and not have others rest in pieces. No more curse. No more feelings of Martha and no need for that stupid old dusty book.


End file.
